Sermon Tone Analysis

Job 9 Verses 32 to 35 Even Faith Needs a Mediator August 7, 2022

Class Presentation Notes AAAA

Background Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:5-6, John 14:6

1 Timothy 2:5-6 (NASB)

5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.

John 14:6 (NASB)

6 Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Main Idea: We desperately need a spiritual umpire

Study Aim: To understand that religion is man reaching out for God: Christianity is God reaching out to man in the person of Jesus Christ.

Create Interest:

· Have you ever felt completely hopeless, so desperate that you longed for death?

Have you ever felt abandoned, as though everyone had forsaken you and no one cared, not even God?

Have you ever found yourself accused of something you did not do, but no matter what you claimed, you were found guilty and condemned?

And although you had done nothing wrong, everyone seemed to stand against you?

· This is exactly how Job felt.

He endured not just one of these agonizing scenarios but all of them.

In the present passage, Job boldly expresses exactly how he feels, and he addresses his remarks directly to God.

So far, Job’s friends have let him down, failing to comfort or encourage him.

Quite the contrary, they have accused him of bringing on his own suffering because of sin.

Job did the only thing he could: in a moment of deep anguish, Job pleaded with the Lordfor relief from his suffering.

He desperately wanted some comfort during his remaining days on earth.[1]

· Since the beginning, men have pleaded their case or argued with God about their innocence or own righteousness.

They have debated or argued with God because they feel unfairly treated.

They question God’s existence or His authority to judge them.

· Many men, however, know they are sinners.

They feel the guilt and burden of their wickedness and want to make matters right with God.

Unfortunately, most folks go about the matter of reconciliation with God in the wrong way.

As chapter nine opens, Job addresses the issue of being right before God and the futility of debating with the Lord.[2]

Lesson in Historical Context: To establish the context here we need to bring you up to the brink of this lesson focus to identify with where Job was.

· We thus far have learned that God deemed Job a righteous man.

The most righteous on earth.

God has allowed “The Satan” to destroy both Job’s wealth and health to prove his point that Job only loves God because of God’s blessings on him.

Job’s friends have proved to be normal judgmental friends whose original intentions perhaps were honorable, but their judgments and made-up accusations about why all this was happening took Job to the brink and perhaps past the brink of being very upset at God wanting to know why.

· We enter Chapter 9 after Bildad verbally attacked Job in Chapter 8setting up Job to vent against Bildad’s and the accumulated statements to this point.

I think it fitting to summarize that response to take us to Verse 32 where we focus today.

Chapter 9: 1-31 to bring us to our Lesson: Let’s introduce these next verses and then look more closely at some for clarity.

· Job was utterly unaware of the circumstances under which he was suffering.

If Job had known that he was to be an example, that a great battle was being fought over him, that the worlds were gathered round him to see how he would take the loss of his children, his property, and his health, the circumstances would have been diminished/lessened, and the trial would have been a mere miscarriage of justice.

Under such circumstances Job might have strung himself up to a heroic effort.

o If everything with us were plain and straightforward, everything would be proportionately easy and proportionately worthless.

o Trials, persecutions, and tests are meant for the culture of your strength, the perfecting of your patience, the consolidation of your hope and love.

o God will not explain the causes of our affliction to us, any more than He explained the causes of Job’s affliction to the patriarch.

But history comes to do what God Himself refrains from doing.

o What course does Job say he will take?

A point of departure is marked in the tenth chapter.

Now he speaks to Heaven.

He will speak in the bitterness of his soul.

That is right.

Let us hear what Job’s soul has to say.

o Do not be harsh with men who speak with some measure of indignation in the time of sorrow.

We are chafed and vexed by the things which befall our life.

Yet even in our very frankness we should strive at least to speak in humbled tones.

Job says he will ask for a reason.[3]

· Vs. 1: After Bildad’s harsh words, Job responded to his friends again.

Despite his friend’s unkind words, Job agreed with much of what Bildad had said—specifically what Bildad had said about God.

· Vs. 2: Job agreed that God is just.

o He affirmed Bildad’s argument: the Lord is just (see 8:3–4).

Therefore, Job knew that a person who stood before God would receive a fair trial, be given exactly what he deserved.

In dealing with his own situation, Job was longing for a day when he could plead his case before the Lord.

He knew that God alone could declare his innocence, and that God’s verdict would be both firm and trustworthy—it could not be questioned.

o He was not suffering because of deliberate sin.

Considering this fact, Job’s question in vs. 2 was not really about salvation or justification but rather vindication or exoneration.

§ That is, Job wanted God to confirm his innocence so he would be vindicated or cleared before his friends.

· Vs. 3: Job agreed that no person could stand before God and argue with Him

o If he will contend with Him, if mortal man should dare to enter into litigation with the great God, he cannot answer Him one of a thousand; if man’s case were brought to trial, God could and would so quickly embarrass and overwhelm him with questions that he would quickly stand there in mute shame, unable to justify himself in one item[4].

o Job referred to disputing one’s innocence or guilt before God as a useless endeavor.

Psalm 130:3 illustrates the point, “If You … should mark iniquities (keep records of sin), … who could stand (innocently in judgment)?”[5]

· Vs. 4-14: Job agreed that God—in all His wisdom and power—was too awesome to resist.

o Job knew that he could never deceive the Lord by claiming he was innocent, nor could he force God to accept and help him.

Therefore, he would never claim to be innocent of deliberate sin if he was truly guilty.

He wanted God to accept his pleas for help because he was desperate, and he knew that God had the wisdom and power to sustain and relieve him.

o To prove his belief and his faith in God’s wisdom and power, Job gave nine examples of God’s control over nature—both the earth and the universe (vv.

5–14).

§ Vs. 5: It is God who moves mountains

§ Vs. 6: It is God who shakes the earth .

§ Vs. 7: It is God who darkens the earth through eclipses of the sun and stars.

§ Vs. 8: It is God who created and controls the heavens and the sea and all natural forces.

§ Vs. 9: It is God who made all the stars and constellations.

§ Vs. 10: It is God who performs countless works and miracles

§ Vs. 11: It is God who is invisible: He cannot be seen (for He is Spirit) nor understood by the human mind.

§ Vs. 12: It is God who controls life and death.

§ Vs. 13: When God is mightily present, he does not restrain his anger until all powers, earthly and cosmic, lie prostrate before him.

Proof of God’s incontestable might is his victory over the forces of chaos represented by the helpers or cohorts of Rahab.

Rahab is one of the monsters along with Leviathan (see 3:8; 40:25–41:26 [Eng.

41:1–34]) and Tannin (see 7:12; 30:29; Gen. 1:21; Ps. 74:13; Isa.

27:1) who were thought to inhabit the depths of the sea.

📷 By reason of their role in the myths of Israel’s neighbors, in the OT these creatures symbolize the forces of chaos in opposition to God.

It is always affirmed that God has defeated them as a testimony to the belief that God is master over all cosmic forces, including those that are hostile to his rule.[6]

§ Vs. 14: Job stressed the impossibility of a person’s standing in court and arguing with God considering who God is.

📷 According to this, the sense is simply, that such was the adoration which Job had for the character of God, that should he attempt to answer Him, he would, if allowed, select his words with the utmost care and attention.[7]

Thoughts to Soak On

· In concluding his first point, Job declares that no person can stand before the Lord and argue a case of self-righteousness.

God is far too great, too knowledgeable, and powerful for a person to ever convince God to accept him in his own righteousness.

Moreover, no person has the words or power to force God to accept him.

Very simply, Job is saying that he would never claim to be innocent of deliberate sin unless he was innocent.

He would never attempt to deceive God or his friends because God would know the truth and reject his plea for help.

And he desperately needed God’s acceptance and help.

Therefore, he was telling the truth when he claimed to be innocent of sin.

To his knowledge, he was not suffering due to unconfessed sin in his life, for he had not deliberately disobeyed God’s commandments.

· We can all learn a very valuable lesson from Job in these first fourteen verses, and it has nothing to do with suffering.